adminneeds to be done to support athletes in the country.
Muzhingi has been showered with praises following his heroics in the 87km race from Durban to Pietermaritzburg in South Africa last Sunday.
Yesterday, Bakers Inn hosted a party for Muzhingi at the Keg and Maiden at Harare Sports Club.
Muzhingi used the occasion to call on athletics stakeholders to organise races like the Comrades Marathon and promote local athletes.
“We should also have an ultra marathon like the Comrades or the Nedbank marathon in South Africa.
“I want to see local athletes developing locally, we have a lot of talent here in Zimbabwe who can also run like me.
“The problem is that the races we have here are for the middle distance runners and there is nothing for us long distance runners. We cannot survive in such an environment so we are calling on all stakeholders to come up with races for long distance runners,” said Muzhingi.
He said people are beginning to acknowledge his achievement as compared to 2009 when he first won the ultra marathon.
“It’s now getting better, at least I am noticing some changes. In 2009 no one knew about Muzhingi, but people are now appreciating,” he said.
Muzhingi said it was gratifying to have Bakers Inn supporting him since last year when he prepared for the 86th edition of the gruelling race.
“They approached me last year in October and they have been helping me with my preparations.
“They have been catering for my training programme, my family and they booked air tickets for my wife and kid to come and support me in South Africa because I did not have the money”.
Muzhingi became the first man in 23 years to win Comrades Marathon for three consecutive years when he stopped the clock in 5 hours 32 minutes 45 seconds.
He is also set to take part in the inaugural Sunshine City Marathon to be held next month in Harare before competing in the World 100km race in Brazil scheduled for October. Muzhingi will complete this year’s events with the New York Marathon in November.
Bakers Inn brand manager Brighton Mazarura said they were happy to partner Muzhingi and promised to continue supporting the athlete.
“It’s almost a year since we started working with Muzhingi and our partnership is for life. When he first won the marathon, he was virtually unknown. Winning the Comrades Marathon once is a phenomenon.
“We came on board after his second win.
“We took him on board as our brand ambassador. We want to do campaigns and school runs, we could not do that in the past months because he was preparing for the race.
“We are saying here is a man from Chivhu who has conquered the world,” said Mazarura.
Mazarura said they have invested a lot in the athlete’s preparations but could not reveal a figure.
“We sent him to a South African Sports Institute where he got proper guidance. He as been receiving a monthly retainer from us. We are looking at people from the humble beginnings,” said Mazarura.
Mazarura said they were looking forward to working with other Zimbabwean athletes.
For his remarkable performance at the Comrades Marathon, Muzhingi pocketed R375 000 in total.
He got R250 000 in prize money for the race and another R120 000 from Nike as well as an additional R5 000 from 32GI of South Africa.
Online Reporter